KR101481833B1 - Liquid crystal display device and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and a method of manufacturing the same, and a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a first substrate having a color filter formed with liquid crystal layers therebetween and opposed to each other, An overcoat layer formed on the color filter, a column spacer formed integrally with the overcoat layer, and an alignment layer having an alignment pattern formed on a surface of the overcoat layer.

Orientation film, spacer, inflation printing

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and a method of manufacturing the same,

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display and a method of manufacturing the same.

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, various portable electronic devices such as a mobile phone, a PDA, and a notebook computer have been developed. Accordingly, there is a growing need for a flat panel display device for a light and small size. As such flat panel display devices, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), a field emission display (FED) and a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) have been actively studied. However, Because of its implementation, liquid crystal display devices (LCDs) are now spotlighted.

1 schematically shows a cross section of a general liquid crystal display element. The liquid crystal display element 1 is constituted by a lower substrate 5 and an upper substrate 3 and a liquid crystal layer 7 formed between the lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3 .

The lower substrate 5 is a thin film transistor array substrate. Though not shown in the figure, a plurality of pixel regions are formed, and a thin film transistor is formed in each pixel region.

The upper substrate 3 is a color filter substrate, and a color filter layer for realizing color is formed.

A pixel electrode and a common electrode are formed on the lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3, respectively, and an alignment film for aligning the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 7 is applied.

The lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3 maintain a constant cell gap by a spacer 9 and a liquid crystal layer 7 is formed therebetween to form a thin film The information is displayed by controlling the amount of light passing through the liquid crystal layer by driving the liquid crystal molecules by the transistor.

The electro-optic effect of the liquid crystal is determined by the anisotropy of the liquid crystal itself and the molecular arrangement state of the liquid crystal, so that the control of the liquid crystal molecule arrangement is controlled by the display quality of the liquid crystal display device It has a great influence on stabilization.

Therefore, an alignment film forming step for more effectively orienting the liquid crystal molecules and a spacer serving to keep the liquid crystal cell gap constant with the seal pattern are very important in relation to image quality characteristics in the liquid crystal cell process.

Meanwhile, the spacers formed through the conventional patterning process are formed through a photolithography process. Such a photolithography process is performed through application of photoresist, exposure and development, and a separate mask is required, so that the process is complicated There is a problem that the manufacturing cost increases.

In addition, the alignment film oriented in the conventional rubbing process or the like causes problems such as unevenness of rubbing, defective foreign matters and shortening of rubbing.

An object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems is to provide a liquid crystal display device having a spacer forming method and an optimized alignment film forming method which simplify a process and reduce a manufacturing cost, and a manufacturing method thereof.

A liquid crystal display device for solving the above-mentioned problems includes a first substrate on which a liquid crystal layer is formed and a color filter disposed opposite to the first substrate, a second substrate on which a thin film transistor is provided, and an overcoat layer formed on the color filter, A column spacer formed integrally with the overcoat layer, and an alignment layer having an alignment pattern formed on a surface of the overcoat layer.

The overcoat layer, the column spacer, and the alignment layer are formed of an organic insulating material including a UV curable liquid pre-polymer, a photoinitiator, and a surfactant.

The first substrate may further include a black matrix layer formed between the first substrate and the color filter layer. The second substrate may have a gate line and a data line formed on the second substrate so as to cross each other to define a pixel region, And a pixel electrode connected to a portion of the thin film transistor and formed in the pixel region.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, including: providing a first substrate having a thin film transistor; forming a color filter layer on a second substrate facing the first substrate; Forming a pattern material layer on the substrate having the filter layer formed thereon, aligning the soft mold with the substrate on which the patterning material is formed, contacting the soft mold and the substrate on which the pattern material layer is formed to form an overcoat layer, And forming an alignment film having an alignment pattern, and separating the soft mold from the pattern material layer.

The pattern material layer is formed of an organic insulating material including a photo-curable liquid pre-polymer, a photoinitiator, and a surfactant.

The soft mold is provided with a recess for forming a column spacer and an orientation pattern on the surface.

The soft mold is formed of any one of PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane), PUA (polyurethane acrylate), polyurethane, and polyimides.

And curing the pattern material layer using heat or light in the step of contacting the soft mold and the substrate on which the pattern material layer is formed.

As described above, the liquid crystal display device and the method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention can be realized by forming a column spacer, an overcoat layer, and an orientation film by performing an in-line printing process using a soft mold, The process is simpler than the process of forming the column spacer formed through the process, and an orientation process such as rubbing is not required. Therefore, there is an effect of preventing the problems such as unevenness of rubbing caused in the alignment process, foreign matter defect and shortening of the rubbing process .

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the column spacer is subjected to an in-line printing process using a soft mold to simultaneously form the overcoat layer and the orientation film forming process, so that the overcoat layer forming process, the column spacer forming process, There is an effect that the process is simpler than the conventional forming process of forming the layer, the column spacer, and the orientation film.

Hereinafter, a liquid crystal display device and a manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure on a line I-I 'in FIG. 2 and a structure on a line II-II'.

2 and 3, a color filter substrate 100 and a TFT substrate 200 which are bonded together with a predetermined space and a color filter substrate 100 which is injected between the color filter substrate 100 and the TFT substrate 200 And a liquid crystal layer 55.

More specifically, the TFT substrate 200 includes a plurality of gate lines 41 and data lines 42 that vertically cross the substrate 70 and define a pixel region, and the gate lines 41 and the data lines 42 are parallel to the gate lines A common line 47 is formed in one direction, and the common electrode 47a is formed at a predetermined interval by protruding from the common line 47 to each pixel region. A thin film transistor (TFT) having source / drain electrodes 42a and 42b is formed at a portion where each gate line 41 and the data line 42 intersect with each other and is connected to a drain electrode of the thin film transistor In each pixel region, pixel electrodes 43 are formed between the common electrodes in parallel with the common electrode 47a.

A gate insulating film 45 is formed between the gate line 41 and the data line 42 and a semiconductor layer 44 is formed on the gate insulating film 45 on the gate electrode 41, A protective film 46 is formed between the pixel electrode 43 and the TFT.

The color filter substrate 100 facing the TFT substrate 200 includes a black matrix layer 31 for blocking light of a portion except a pixel region (a gate line, a data line region, and a thin film transistor region) And R, G, and B color filter layers 32 are formed to correspond to the respective pixel regions and to express hue. The front overcoat layer 34a is formed on the black matrix layer 31 and the color filter layer 32 and the column spacer 34b is formed of the same material as the overcoat layer 34a and the overcoat layer 34a, The alignment film 34c is formed.

The column spacer 34b is a column spacer formed to maintain a cell gap between two substrates. The column spacer 34b and the TFT substrate 100 are in contact with each other.

The alignment layer 34c has an alignment pattern formed on the overcoat layer 34a to perform a liquid crystal alignment function.

At this time, the overcoat layer 34a, the column spacer 34b, and the alignment layer 34c may be formed by depositing an organic insulating material such as a UV curable liquid pre-polymer on the black matrix 31 and the color filter layer 32, Printing is performed by using a soft mold having a pattern opposite to the shape of the overcoat layer 34a, the column spacer 34b and the orientation film 34c to be formed after vapor deposition on the substrate 60 on which the substrate 60 is formed. (In-plane printing) process.

Accordingly, in the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the column spacer, the overcoat layer, and the alignment layer are formed by performing the infra-printing process using the soft mold to form the column spacer formed through photolithography, exposure, The process is simpler than the process and no alignment process such as rubbing is required. Therefore, there is an effect of preventing problems such as unevenness of rubbing caused in the alignment process, foreign matter defect, and shortening of the rubbing process.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the column spacer and the orientation film are simultaneously formed with the overcoat layer forming process by performing the infrain printing process using the soft mold, so that the overcoat layer, the column spacer, , The column spacer, and the alignment film are formed.

A method of forming a color filter substrate, which is a manufacturing method of a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention, will now be described with reference to FIGS. 4A to 4D. Particularly, Figs. 4A to 4D are cross-sectional views showing structures III-III 'and II-II' of Fig. 2, respectively.

After forming a carbon-based opaque organic material layer on the substrate 60, the organic material layer is patterned through a photolithography process to form a black matrix (31) are formed.

Next, a red color resist is deposited on the substrate 60 on which the black matrix 31 is formed, and then the red color resist is patterned through photolithography to form a red color filter layer 32R as shown in FIG. 4A . Green and blue color filter layers 32G and 32B are formed in the same manner as the formation of the red color filter layer. The order of forming the red, green, and blue color filter layers 32R, 32G, and 32B may be changed. Next, a pattern material layer 34 for forming a pattern is formed on the substrate 60 on which the red, green, and blue color filter layers 32R, 32G, and 32B are formed.

At this time, the pattern material layer 34 includes a photo-curable liquid pre-polymer, a photo-initiator, and a surfactant. Here, the photo-curable liquid polymer precursor is mainly a photocured acrylate polymer precursor such as HEA (2-Hydroxyehyl acrylate), EGDMA (Ethyleneglycol dimethancrylate), EGPEA (Ethyleneglycol phenyletheracrylate), HPA (Hydroxypropyl acrylate) (Ultra Violet Curable acrylate liquid pre-polymer) is used.

A soft mold 300 having a backplane on its back surface and having a concave pattern on its surface is prepared so as to correspond to the substrate 70 on which the pattern material layer 34 is formed.

The backplane may be made of glass or a PET film. The soft mold 300 may be formed by curing an elastic polymer such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) or polyurethane acrylate (PUA), or may be formed of a polyurethane ), Polyimides, and the like can be used.

In addition, the soft mold 300 is provided with a concave portion 300a for forming a column spacer and an alignment film pattern 300b on its surface.

4B, after aligning the soft mold 300 and the substrate 70 on which the pattern material layer 34 is formed, the surface of the soft mold 300 is covered with the pattern material layer 34 The column spacer 34b and the alignment film 34c are formed on the pattern material layer 34 by leaving corresponding portions of the concave portion 300a and the alignment film pattern 300b of the soft mold 300 on the pattern material layer 34, ). Here, the pattern material layer 34 may be cured using heat or light while the soft mold 300 and the pattern material layer 34 are in contact with each other.

The column spacer 34b is formed to maintain the cell gap. The column spacer 34b is a cell spacer column spacer formed to maintain the cell gap. The column spacer 34b and the TFT substrate 200 to be bonded thereafter are brought into contact with each other.

The orientation film pattern 300b is formed with an orientation pattern that does not require an orientation process such as a conventional rubbing process.

4C, the process is completed by separating the soft mold 300 from the pattern material layer 34 on which the overcoat layer 34a, the column spacer 34b and the alignment layer 34c are formed .

1 is a cross-sectional view of a general liquid crystal display device

2 is a plan view of a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the structure on the line I-I 'in Fig. 2 and the structure on the line II-II'

4A to 4D are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention

Claims (9)

A second substrate having a first substrate and a thin film transistor provided with a color filter formed between the liquid crystal layers and opposed to each other, An overcoat layer formed on the color filter, A column spacer formed integrally with the overcoat layer, and an alignment layer, Wherein the alignment film has an alignment pattern formed on the surface of the overcoat layer. The liquid crystal display according to claim 1, wherein the overcoat layer, the column spacer, An organic insulating material including a photo-curable liquid pre-polymer, a photoinitiator, and a surfactant. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the first substrate further comprises a black matrix layer formed between the first substrate and the color filter layer, A gate line and a data line, and a pixel electrode connected to a part of the thin film transistor and formed in the pixel region. Providing a first substrate provided with a thin film transistor, Forming a color filter layer on a second substrate facing the first substrate, Forming a pattern material layer on the substrate on which the color filter layer is formed; Aligning the soft mold on the substrate on which the patterning material is formed, The soft mold and the substrate on which the pattern material layer is formed are contacted to form an alignment film having an overcoat layer, a column spacer, and an alignment pattern ; Separating the soft mold from the pattern material layer, Wherein the alignment film has an alignment pattern formed on the surface of the overcoat layer. The method of claim 4, wherein the pattern material layer Wherein the liquid crystal display device is formed of an organic insulating material including a photo-curable liquid pre-polymer, a photoinitiator, and a surfactant. The method of claim 4, wherein the soft mold Wherein a column spacer forming recess and an alignment pattern are provided on a surface of the liquid crystal display device. The method of claim 4, wherein the soft mold Wherein the first electrode is formed of any one of PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane), PUA (polyurethane acrylate), polyurethane, and polyimides. The manufacturing method of a liquid crystal display device according to claim 4, further comprising the step of curing the pattern material layer using heat or light in the step of contacting the soft mold and the substrate on which the pattern material layer is formed . 5. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 4, wherein the first substrate further comprises a black matrix layer formed between the first substrate and the color filter layer, wherein the second substrate is formed on the second substrate so as to intersect with each other to define pixel regions A gate line, a data line, and a pixel electrode connected to a part of the thin film transistor and formed in the pixel region.

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